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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27082384">123457 + (0-43)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/aaeiilnn/pseuds/aaeiilnn'>aaeiilnn</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/aaeiilnn/pseuds/numberzero'>numberzero (aaeiilnn)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Recount [12]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Umbrella Academy (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Escape, Family, Family Secrets, Friendship, Gen, Headaches &amp; Migraines, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Moon, Nosebleed, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pain, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Superpowers, Teleportation, Televator, nods to the comics</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-09 02:07:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>16,786</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27082384</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/aaeiilnn/pseuds/aaeiilnn, https://archiveofourown.org/users/aaeiilnn/pseuds/numberzero</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"Make a choice. Now." Rita Lewis demanded, looking each of them in the eye. "Either you trust and follow me to what could potentially be your ride home, or you don't and figure a way out yourselves."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>The Hargreeves Family</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Recount [12]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1870099</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>73</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>wkfjakdjownd pls enjoy 💕</p>
    </blockquote><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"Is this seriously the worst thing that's ever happened to us? We went through two apocalypses, for fuck's sake!"</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>✓ Here's a relatively short FIRST chapter. This is planned to have 3-4 chapters and I'm slightly dreading writing the second more than the third because it's definitely going to be a lot. <br/>✓ Updates will still be every Sunday, unless I get impatient and post earlier, or lazy and not finish writing. But I have made the decision to focus on finishing this over writing new shots for my MCU×HP series. (Check that out if you're interested btw ☺️)<br/>✓ I'm really hoping you enjoy this.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The creaking of the door's lock and a sudden bright light startled them awake.</p><p>"Z?" Klaus mumbled as he saw the familiar silhouette through the window of the door. "Rita, is that you?" The logical side in his brain tried to remind him to stay away in case of another timeout. They needed to talk to Harlan again.</p><p>She seemed to be in a hurry as she barely gestured for them to move. They followed routine and shuffled half-asleep to the other side of the room. Before they even faced the wall, she had already slipped inside and quickly placed herself in front of Five.</p><p>"You're the smartest one here, can you make any sense of this?" She shoved some pieces of paper at his face before stepping back and watching him intently. Rita hurriedly motioned for him to read it when he only looked at her, and glanced back at the door as if something might be chasing her. "Hurry, we don't exactly got a lot of time and I know you won't trust me if you can't verify it yourself. And if you don't trust me, none of them will follow."</p><p>"What is it?" Diego asked, seeing Five sit up as he scanned the paper. Rita remained standing in front of him, tapping her shoe impatiently on the floor.</p><p>"This…This is a calculation to get home." Five stuttered out as he kept reading. The other start to gather around him at his words. "But it's useless, I can't do this. It's beyond me and, even if I try, the chances of me messing up is running at a probability of 100% based on past experiments with new aspects of my powers." He exaggerated it a bit, but he can't keep giving his siblings hope where there should be none.</p><p>Rita rolled her eyes. "I know that," she hissed, obviously still in a rush. "Do you think I'd just show that to you for fun and taunt you with an impossible way to get home? You all know me better than that!" And quite honestly, despite being their captor and usual guard, they did kinda agree. "Listen, I know a way."</p><p>"You can't do this." Five rebutted immediately, waving the papers at her.</p><p>"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock!" Her voice raised, obviously frustrated by the interruption. "But someone else can, and I know exactly who. The only chance you have is now, because I'm seriously running out of ways to keep dad busy enough so he doesn't have time to deal with you."</p><p>Luther reacted first. "You've been what?" It's not all that surprising that she's helping them, but it's a bit of a shock to know she's willingly betraying Reginald Hargreeves, given how loyal she seemed to be to him.</p><p>"Make a choice. Now." She demanded, looking each of them in the eye. "Either you trust and follow me to what could potentially be your ride home, or you don't and figure a way out yourselves."</p><p>"Let's go," Klaus replied almost immediately. He quickly ran to the door and held it open. "Come on!" He gestured to the door, encouraging his siblings to move from their frozen states. "Is this seriously the worst thing that's ever happened to us? We went through two apocalypses, for fuck's sake!"</p><p>"What if it's a trap?" Diego hesitated.</p><p>Vanya followed Klaus. "I trust her." She exchanged looks with Rita and quickly slipped through the door.</p><p>The others looked at Five and waited for his decision.</p><p>"They're right." Five shrugged, pocketing the papers determinedly into his pockets after scanning them once more. "We can't waste the opportunity we have here." He moved and walked out, waiting with Vanya amd Klaus outside. Luther and Diego soon followed, albeit a bit reluctantly.</p><p>Allison was the last to move, but she went anyway. For a moment she paused in front of Rita by the door. "Give us our powers back."</p><p>"When it's safer." Rita nodded. And off they went.</p><p>The elevator was small, but they made do. "Where are the others?" Five asked, preparing for a fight.</p><p>Rita saw this and placed a calming hand on his shoulder. "They don't know about this. I think Daniel and Klaus, maybe Ben, are sort of suspecting something about me, but I had to keep them in the dark. Still, trust me, they're good people. All of them"</p><p>Diego snorted, recalling the terrible attitude that most of them had. "You're asking for an awful lot of trust."</p><p>"Sorry, just… Okay." Rita sighed. "Abhijat's going to help, so sneaking around is easier. Pogo is aware of certain things, but he's always been on dad's side, so he turns a blind eye to what he can, then runs off to snitch about what he can't ignore. Right now, Mom's making sure he isn't informed about any of this."</p><p>"And your siblings?" Five asked.</p><p>"I told you! They know nothing about this. Dad has them much more heavily monitored than me."</p><p>"Then how do you know they can be trusted?"</p><p>The elevator stopped and the doors opened to a dark hallway. "Because our loyalty has always been with each other. Not dad." And with that, Rita stepped out onto the carpeted floors, signalling for them to keep quiet. The siblings exchanged looks but ultimately followed and minded their step. (The floor creaked a bit sometimes because of Luther, but there wasn't much they can do about that.)</p><p>They tiptoed past the living room and moved to the other side of the building. Klaus realized where they could be headed first. "Are we going to the lab?"</p><p>"I'd advise you to keep your voices down."</p><p>The new voice caused all of them to jump and Rita had to clamp a hand over Klaus' mouth to stop the scream that almost escaped him. They turned to see Mom. Or at least, it's other-Mom. There isn't really much of a difference other than the fact that their version of Mom is dead.</p><p>"Hi, Mom." Rita replied softly, recovering fastest. "Where's Pogo?"</p><p>"Taken care of." The coldness in her tone was unfamiliar to Diego, and it made him subconsciously take a step back from this unfamiliarity. "He wouldn't be a bother. I've also prepared the supplies."</p><p>"Thanks, Mom." Rita grinned and turned back to the direction they were headed. The others followed one by one.</p><p>Diego hesitated. "Bye." He mumbled softly, not knowing if she'd hear it or even acknowledge it. To his surprise, she looked at him and smiled the warm, familiar way she used to when he was young.</p><p>"Goodbye. Be safe now, dears."</p><p>Luther had to gently pull him by the shoulders so he could walk. A moment longer and Diego might have broken down in tears and compromised their mission.</p><p>They came to a stop at one of the doors on the fourth floor. It looked completely normal, like the doors of their other training rooms. They think they must have passed by it at least once in their old life, but none of them have any memory of entering it. Rita carefully pushed the door open and motioned for them to enter quickly, locking the door when they're all inside.</p><p>The room was big. It takes up two floors with a spiral staircase at the side to reach the books lined at the top from wall to wall. There are tables piled with folders and papers, some of them scattered, some of them neat.</p><p>"My head hurts." Vanya said as she moved around.</p><p>They looked around. "This isn't a lab," Five noted, narrowing his eyes at Rita. It looked more like a very messy library.</p><p>She nodded. "It's not. This is the way to it, though." Rita's eyebrows furrowed as she went to approach Five, then took a pack of tissue out and handed it to him. "Here, I knew this would happen."</p><p>"Oh, what?" Klaus whined when he realized he has a nosebleed again and tried to tilt his head down the way he did the first time it's happened. The rest of them, save Rita, began to notice that they were bleeding as well.</p><p>Five took the pack of tissue, took a piece out, and passed it to the others. "What's happening? How did you know this would happen?"</p><p>Rita watched them all wipe their bloody noses and winced apologetically when Vanya mentioned her head hurting. "I didn't do anything, but I did get some sort of confirmation when I brought Klaus out to talk."</p><p>"Spit it out." Diego growled, partly because of his headache and the nosebleed, partly because of his own impatience. "What's happening?"</p><p>They all stared at her expectantly. She sighed.</p><p>"What do you know about how you got your powers?"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>✓ THAT'S RIGHT. WE ARE TACKLING THAT. Interestingly enough, I didn't have plans for the explanation of powers until I began to write the nosebleed part of this fic, hence pushing the 2-chapter plan to a 3-chapter plan. <br/>✓ There's gonna be some sus science here, but I'll be as vague as possible,,, 🤷🏽<br/>✓ Stay tuned for the rest 😉</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"What do you know about how you got your powers?"</p><p>There was a moment of silence after her question. The members of the Umbrella Academy exchanged looks, holding their bloodied tissues. "It's an unexplainable phenomenon." Five answered carefully, repeating words he'd seen and heard describing their birth. </p><p>Rita tilted her head before turning to one of the shelves at the far end of the room. "That's the publicly known answer."</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>✓ TW: Reginald Hargreeves's A+ Parenting aka Scientific Experimentations on children except this one isn't that detailed but it does go too far; Mentioned child death</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"What do you know about how you got your powers?"</p><p>There was a moment of silence after her question. The members of the Umbrella Academy exchanged looks, holding their bloodied tissues. "It's an unexplainable phenomenon." Five answered carefully, repeating words he'd seen and heard describing their birth. </p><p>Rita tilted her head before turning to one of the shelves at the far end of the room. "That's the publicly known answer. Has your version of Reginald Hargreeves explained anything to you?" She glanced at them before returning to selecting certain books. "I see. He didn't explain anything to you as well. That's a similarity."</p><p>"Everything I'm about to tell you is the version of the story in this world. I think it's something you should know, but, keep in mind, there may be differences, whether big or small, between your timeline and ours." She spoke clearly with no hesitation, as if this was something she had been preparing for. "We'll have to go through this as fast as we can because we are under time pressure, but I know it's important." </p><p>She brought the books to one of the less crowded tables and motioned for them to come closer. "Why were there 43 women all across the world that got pregnant and gave birth all in the span of less than half an hour? Children born with damn superpowers? None of you questioned it?" Rita spared them a look before opening up one of the books. "Nothing is unexplainable when it comes to Reginald Hargreeves."</p><p>"What are these?" Diego asked first, being closest to the table among his siblings. He saw endless words and numbers handwritten on the pages, some littered with newspaper clippings or photographs.</p><p>"These," Rita pushed one of the books closer to them, "are records by Reginald Hargreeves himself. Sometimes with Pogo's help. Explanations as to why a lot of things came to be, and it all starts with this one. His experimentation on a kid named Harlan." Vanya gasped loudly and it didn't go unnoticed. "You know him?"</p><p>"Yes," Allison answered in her sister's stead. "Vanya was close to him and his mother. When we were in the sixties."</p><p>"We talked to him." Klaus admitted. "Other-me said I could still communicate with ghosts if I wanted to even in timeout, and he was with us for a short while."</p><p>Rita nodded. "Klaus — our Klaus — and I, through him, have been able to talk with him once in a while. He's the only ghost that stays here. Seemed like a nice kid." She looked to Vanya. "I'm sorry."</p><p>Vanya remained silent but moved towards the book where Harlan's name is seen only once because he's not even referred to by his name for most of it. She skimmed the pages in horror until a hand takes it away from her gently. </p><p>"I don't think you should be reading this." Rita said in a soft tone that Vanya and Klaus have dubbed her 'therapist voice' between themselves during late night talks. "I can give you a rough outline."</p><p>"Harlan, referred to as 'The Subject' in these records, came to Reginald Hargreeves' care in 1965 after his mother died in a car crash. There's no explicit note about it, but reading between the lines made me think that Reginald had his eye on him for a while, even before the mother died. Now, it makes sense." Rita gestured to Vanya. "If he knew about you in the sixties during your time travel stunt, then he might have taken to keeping track of the people you encountered."</p><p>"It's not your fault." Luther murmured to Vanya softly, knowing what she was thinking when she stumbled back in shock. "This is all on Reginald Hargreeves. Not you."</p><p>Rita continued. "Speaking of reading things between the lines, Reggie sometimes talks in these as if he isn't from here."</p><p>"Not from here?" Diego asked.</p><p>"'<em>Reggie</em>'?" Klaus repeated incredulously.</p><p>Rita rolled her eyes, a hint of a smile when she looked at Klaus first. "Yes, <em>Reggie</em>, because it makes him sound less serious." She turned to Diego. "And yes, as in Earth. I have a suspicion Reggie is some sort of alien, but that's a bit I still need to research on." She paused and noticed the look on some of the others' faces. "Ah, I see I am losing credibility due to the alien talk. Let's go back to the original topic."</p><p>"Harlan was repeatedly tested due to his signs of powers. There's a note somewhere that says the kid mentioned being saved from drowning — as in died and then brought back to life." No one noticed Vanya freezing at her words. "It gave Reggie a sense of immortality? Or cure for death? I think that's why he was still interested in the kid even after he died because of a test gone wrong." Rita's dark eyes seeked out Vanya's. "He stuck it out for a year, the brave kid."</p><p>Five furrowed his eyebrows in thought. "What do you mean '<em>still interested</em>'? You don't mean…"</p><p>Rita sighed sadly, tapping on one of the other books but not bothering to open it up. "He was preserved. In every way possible." She shivered as if even saying the words disgusted her. "There's a record of his body being kept frozen and inspected once in a while in case of some new developments or whatever. Mostly, the focus of the experiments was on his blood. So," she paused hesitantly, "Reginald pretty much drained him of all of it and experimented on the limited supply for over twenty years."</p><p>"<em>Jesus</em>," Diego ran a hand through his hair. "He's insane."</p><p>"People preferred to call it eccentric because they didn't know the dark details." Rita said plainly as she placed some of the books back on the shelves. "I'll give you three guesses on why he stopped experimenting."</p><p>"Us." Five answered. "Or rather, the Sparrow Academy."</p><p>"Got it in one." She acknowledged, bringing their focus to another book. "But maybe not in the way you think."</p><p>"What do you mean?" </p><p>Rita breathed in deeply, as if preparing for their response. "On the last recorded experimentation of Reggie on Harlan's blood, there was an observation of some sort of powerful reaction that went unnoticed by all sorts of radars across the world. That day was October 1, 1989."</p><p>"<em>Fuck</em>," Klaus cursed wholeheartedly, the sentiment echoed by his siblings as they watched Rita turn one of the books to a page with a newspaper clipping about the mysterious pregnancies.</p><p>"So, yeah," Rita nodded. "He stopped with the experiments because he got better subjects to test. Subjects that he triggered into existing." She turned the page and revealed a list.</p><p>"Forty-three entries of locations." Rita explained before pointing to one. "That's me — Bangkok, Thailand. I was born there, but raised here because my actual father had science projects to attend to. It's how he knew Reggie."</p><p>The siblings crowded closer around the table to peer at the list. Beside Rita's location (numbered 32 because her name isn't even there), it was marked '<em>unnecessary</em>', then followed up with '<em>Child of known associate; stay updated</em>'. The list continued on, and they read through it despite not knowing exactly where they were born since they were never told. </p><p>"Look," Diego pointed out what was numbered 25. "'<em>Sinaloa, Mexico – unnecessary; previous encounter was unimpressive</em>'. Do you think…?"</p><p>"That it's you?" Luther continued. "We're the only two he previously encountered and found unimpressive." He pointed to number 13 on the list. '<em>Leicestershire, England – unnecessary; previous encounter was unimpressive</em>'. </p><p>"You're all missing the point." Allison pursed her lips as her eyes scanned the document. "There's some other '<em>unnecessary</em>' marks, but over half are '<em>collected</em>'. Yet, there's only seven in the academy."</p><p>They looked to Rita for an explanation, and she looks back with suddenly tired eyes. Every suspicion Five still had of her was erased at that moment because he just knew she wasn't putting up a mask right now. She looked to one of the other shelves and they followed her eyes.</p><p>It was a shelf of more books, records, each labelled with the word 'subject' and a number on the spines. Five moved towards it and noted the layer of dust before gently picking out one of the books randomly. "<em>Subject 11 – Mandaluyong City, Philippines</em>." He read the cover aloud. "Animal Shapeshifting"</p><p>"That's Mariella." Rita says with a soft smile. "She chose the name."</p><p>"Is she still alive?" Klaus asked, still in a bit of shock after all the reveals. </p><p>"Trapped, just like you were." She answered with a pained look on her face. "Here, look at this." Rita walked to take the book back from Five and carefully place it back, then leading them to a book on one if the other tables instead. It was marked '<em>Subject 26</em>', which Diego noted to be the highest number for the subjects, but Rita lightly peeled off the label to reveal —</p><p>"Number Seven." Vanya read in shock. "You said—"</p><p>"We don't have a Number Seven. That's right." Rita bitterly replied, and the sudden change of tone raised their defenses slightly until she just flipped the book open to a picture of a young boy with dark hair and startling green eyes. "We don't. Not anymore."</p><p>"None of you would even recognize him." She added softly as they inspected the photo. "I didn't too. The boy had talents with technology and electricity in general. He had such great potential that Reggie couldn't let go of, so, when he died," Rita turned the pages until they landed on one with a picture, "Abhijat became what he is now."</p><p>"The green box?" Allison asked with wide eyes. "Oh my <em>god</em>."</p><p>"Reggie somehow found a way to preserve him and still benefit from his powers." Rita's voice is smaller but filled with so much anger. "And the others don't even know."</p><p>"How do they not know?" Diego looked at the picture of the boy again. "He must be 8 or 9 years old in this picture."</p><p>"Nine," she replied, and there was a hint of tears in her eyes. "He was nine. So, it was before I arrived. And he made sure they wouldn't remember." She was looking straight at Allison at her last sentence.</p><p>"No," Allison muttered upon realization. "No, he… He used my powers again."</p><p>"To make them forget." Vanya added, the horror sinking in further as she remembered what happened in their story.</p><p>"He used our Allison to make sure they don't remember what Abhijat went through. To make sure they don't start doubting him." Rita breathed deeply, attempting to calm down as she started to clean up the other books that she had taken out. "There's no record of that in this room. But I told you, Mom has always been on the right side of things… She remembers and cares for each one like her own child, so when I found out about all this, she encouraged me to try and make things a little better at least. She was so angry talking about Abhijat."</p><p>"Then your Allison is on Reginald's side." Five observed. "She was also 9 at the time. It's not possible for her to just forget about erasing an entire sibling from the family."</p><p>Rita shook her head. "You forget that we have Lila. Apparently, all that needed to be done was to force Allison to read off the script, and one of the 'rumors' is that Lila would mimic the powers and erase Allison's own memory." She looked around the room and walked towards another shelf. More books, but thicker ones, filled it up.</p><p>"These are our files." She tapped on the shelf lightly and they could see the labels of each number on the spines. "Mine's the thinnest because I was usually part of helping test their powers instead." She pointed to the books at the leftmost side of the top row. Her finger slid down to the middle. "Number Three, your powers were always so important because it helped him have more of a control on things."</p><p>Allison didn't realize tears had been running down her face until Klaus placed his arm around her shoulder, attempting to comfort her. "You're good. We're here. He's not gonna get to you."</p><p>"I don't know how Reggie managed it, but when I first got here, Mom said he also pushed her to do the trick on me. About the rules of the place. It's why all the members of the Academy don't know anything about this room." She gestures with her hand. "He made her make everyone subconsciously aware that this is a forbidden room."</p><p>"That's why it hurt when we entered." Five was quick to follow. "The nosebleed and everything."</p><p>"How did you figure it out?" Diego looked up at her with narrowed eyes. "You say you were also rumored out of this room. Did Mom let you in?"</p><p>"No," she smiled softly, "Mom loves us all like her children too much to actually put us in possible danger. I just… The rumor Reggie made didn't take into account the fact I've overheard him and my father talk about seven children in the academy, or my habit of writing things down."</p><p>"When the rules were set in place, the others were just babies. Too young and too easy to manipulate. When Abhijat was erased, they were able to hunt down all the photographs and all the secret journals and diaries that might have been kept because they were always heavily monitored.</p><p>"When I came in, Reggie didn't know everything about me, and that was his mistake. I hated the blanket I was given and the view out of my window terrified me on my first day, so I made a note to look for possible alternative rooms." She let out a small, lifeless, laugh. "And he also didn't account for my complete disregard of nosebleeds since I was one of those kids that got that a lot when I was younger."</p><p>"So, one day, I just wandered. Found myself here. Didn't realize what I got into until I went through the books." She stared blankly at the shelves. "I was a bit lucky. It was one of those missions where Reggie wanted to monitor the situation closely and Pogo went with him. Only Abhijat and Mom were home and Abhijat was the one who found me."</p><p>"Did you know by then that he was…" Vanya trailed off, looking back at the records they were shown. </p><p>"He entered the room at the exact time I finished his file." A look of amusement crossed her face. "Mom sat me down and we had a talk about this, Abhijat would chime in from time to time. But since then, they'd just help me sneak around at nighttime and understand the situation more by reading everything in this room. They thought I'd be helpful."</p><p>"Helpful?" Allison repeated. "For what?"</p><p>Rita was about to reply but was stopped when the click of the door unlocking snatched all of their attention away, and everyone was quick to stand ready at defense. Luther was the first to move and was about to hold the door down until he was stopped by Rita.</p><p>At the sound of the doorknob creaking as it turned, she turned to them and pointed to the piles of books and spaces between shelves.</p><p>"Hide," she whispered.</p><p>Rita frantically motioned for them to move to the direction of the stacks of paper and books that they could easily hide behind of. She moved to stand by the door as they waited for it to open.</p><p>Five hid by one of the tables closest to the door, grasping the letter opener he had secretly snatched the moment they walked in the room. Klaus and Diego were hiding by one of the piles of paper, while Luther successfully hid behind another. Allison and Vanya watched from behind one of the other tables.</p><p>The door slowly opened and everyone held their breath.</p><p>"What the fuck?" Rita cursed. "What the <em>fuck</em>. Abhijat, you scared me, you little shit." Then she turned and signalled to everyone that everything was fine. The green box — Abhijat, Allison corrected in her mind. He deserved to be referred to by his name — produced a series of clicks that she (and, perhaps, her entire family) could instinctively translate in her mind as she was brought up learning all sorts of languages and modes of communication, like the Morse code he was doing.</p><p>"Don't laugh at me." Rita snapped, albeit not strictly. "This is serious. I thought we were gonna get caught." A series of clicks replied to her. "I did not have my guard down. Did you not see that everyone was hiding?" The clicks came at a faster speed.</p><p>"We don't have time for arguing, Abby." Rita rolled her eyes before focusing back to the others who were obviously understanding the entire conversation. "Come on, we have to go."</p><p>.. / - --- .-.. -.. / -.-- --- ..- / -. --- - / - --- / -.-. .- .-.. .-.. / -- . / .- -... -... -.-- .-.-.- / -- -.-- / -. .- -- . / .. ... / .- -... .... .. .--- .- - --..-- / .. - / .. ... / -. --- - / - .... .- - / -.-. --- -- .--. .-.. .. -.-. .- - . -.. .-.-.-</p><p>"Are we good to go?" Rita asked as they moved to the end of the room, ignoring Abhijat's words. "Did you check on everyone? Bring everything with you?" An affirmative reply followed and Rita nodded in acknowledgment before moving her finger along the edge of one of shelves and triggering something. </p><p>The entire bookshelf released itself from the wall, revealing a passageway that they didn't know was there. They followed Rita carefully through it, Abhijat coming in last and managing to close the bookshelf again with a claw that was retracting back into himself.</p><p>Through the passageway and a bit of stairs, they found themselves in a place that really looked more like a lab with the scientific instruments and the scattered papers. "I can't believe none of us knew about this." Diego murmured as he and his siblings looked around.</p><p>"There's a huge chance you were made to never figure it out." Rita replied. She didn't bring them to any of the tables or show them any of the ongoing experiments this time, but rather headed straight for a door and slid it open. "Get in. No time to waste now."</p><p>"What is this?" Five asked, less suspicious than before but still a bit cautious. "Why won't you give us our powers back yet?"</p><p>Rita pointed to the open door, revealing a small elevator sized room. "When we get out of the house, I'll give it back. Now, get in."</p><p>They shuffled inside and managed to fit despite Luther's large frame and how the space seemed to be so small. Upon closer inspection, there were familiar buttons at the side of the door from the inside. Rita started tapping them in a certain sequence as she explained. "This is the Televator. As you can guess, it's because it's an elevator and—"</p><p>"Because it's also a telephone?" Klaus guessed. "Who are we calling? Ghostbusters?"</p><p>Rita looked back at them with a grin. "No. It's because it can also teleport." The doors slid shut. "Hold on tight."</p><p>Whatever teleporting was supposed to feel like, this isn't what was any of them expected. Sure, there was always the possibility of dizziness or throwing up, but that's because of the spinning that they show on movies or the disorientation because of a new place. (Five, someone who can teleport, expected it to just be quick even though he suspected some more headaches.) This one though… The Televator?</p><p>It's <em>terrible</em>.</p><p>Absolutely no balance whatsover. It felt like they would have been thrown around the walls and ceiling if Rita hadn't given the warning to hold on to the bars at the sides. At the first sudden movement, all of them were already crouching to the floor, trying to regain some sense of balance. Familiar maniacal laughter and fast clicking noises echoed through the room with their surprised screams as Rita and Abhijat managed to stay stable and watched them with amusement. </p><p>It was just a minute, but it felt like it was going on for hours. Allison has a bruise in her arm from hitting the wall too hard and Klaus' hands were cramping up with how tightly he held on to the bar. "What the hell was that?" Luther asked when it ended and he had taken a second to catch his breath.</p><p>"Were you trying to kill us?" Five was quickest to stand and fix himself.</p><p>She giggled (<em>the sheer fucking audacity</em>) one last time before smiling at them. "Sorry. It just looks funnier now that it's not me suffering. Come on, we're here."</p><p>The doors slid open and they stared in awe at the sight.</p><p>"Could be wrong, but something suddenly made a bit more sense." Diego murmured. "At least now we know there might be a reason he sent you here."</p><p>Luther snapped out of the trance he fell in. "Is this the <em>fucking</em> moon?"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>✓ Ngl the next chapter might take a while<br/>✓ Tom Hopper, actor of Luther, was born in Leicestershire, UK. David Castañeda was born in LA but raised in Sinaloa, Mexico. Rita, who I've mentioned I pattern after Kitty Amatayakul was born in Bangkok, Thailand.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"Rita, darling?" Klaus called out when they all stopped in their tracks. "I think maybe you forgot to mention there'd be a hotel on the moon. Or is that something that just normally exists here in your timeline?"</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I know I said updates every Sunday and yet its been over two weeks since I've updated, plus it's Tuesday today but I just can't. It's been a mess of a semester and I live in the Philippines which meant storms and an incompetent government along with the pandemic especially this past month.</p><p>Also this chapter's longer than usual :/</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Luther snapped out of the trance he fell in. "Is this the <em>fucking moon</em>?"</p><p>Rita blinked at his harsh tone. "Alright, what did the moon do to you?"</p><p>"Why are we on the moon?!" He asked back, tone rising because this is just <em>crazy</em>.</p><p>Diego shook his head. "This is insane."</p><p>"How are we breathing?" Vanya asked as well, in a tone a bit quieter than her siblings' but Rita answered her instead of their brother who was wildly gesturing to the '<em>damn moon</em>' as Allison tried calming him down.</p><p>"The Televator provides enough oxygen for a while. There's also a gravity effect being spread out for a certain distance." Rita stepped out of the door first, closely followed by Abhijat floating behind her. "It is pretty limited, so we have to go. Come on."</p><p>"Wait." Five stopped everyone else from following. "Give us our powers back." His siblings paused at his words and watched Rita expectantly.</p><p>Rita met his gaze with a sigh. "Do we have to do this here? I told you the oxygen and gravity effect is limited plus there's a lot of us and we have a bit of a walk to take."</p><p>("Ooh, sightseeing on the moon?" Klaus responded enthusiastically.</p><p>Luther growled. "There's nothing to sightsee on the damn moon.")</p><p>"Give it back." Allison echoed Five's demand. "We want our powers back."</p><p>Rita watched them all for a second, seemed to exchange looks with Abhijat, then turned back to them with a roll of her eyes. "Fine, but we could have done this later." She blinked and suddenly there was a warm, heavy feeling that passed through each of them, as if they passed under strong waterfalls made of hot springs. </p><p>"Good now?" She asked nonchalantly, still waiting for them to follow.</p><p>Five narrowed his eyes and, within a second, he was outside behind Rita, hands close enough to wrap around her neck if not for Abhijat somehow managing to blast him a few feet away. He jumped once more and found himself in front of Rita, but she moved faster than him and wrapped a hand around his throat. Suddenly, the familiar, cold feeling washed over him, signalling that he lost his powers again.</p><p>"Shame." Rita tsked as she met his eyes blankly. "I'm actually pretty disappointed. Can't believe Daniel lost to you."</p><p>"Stop that, Five." Vanya walked over and pulled him away from Rita. "We're still not home, so maybe don't threaten someone who can help us. And we have an oxygen problem, right?" She directed the last part to Rita who gave a small smile and motioned for them to follow her.</p><p>"Great going," Diego muttered as he passed by Five, who just glared back.</p><p>Allison caught up to them and placed a hand on Five's shoulder. "Next time, maybe loop us in and we could help you." She whispered. "I could have just rumored her."</p><p>"Yeah, yeah, I messed up. Whatever." Five waved off his siblings looks as he walked normally (because he was not dragging his feet or irritatingly kicking some moon rocks they pass by at all) and felt the gravity the Televator provided seeming to grow weaker as his steps become lighter.</p><p>"Here we are." Rita announced as they stopped at a rock structure that formed something like an arch a bit taller than Luther. "When we get in, the gravity's gonna be stronger, so don't be too surprised." Then she passed through the archway and just disappeared from their sight, much to their confusion.</p><p>Before any of them could even question it, Abhijat started clicking morse code at them, telling them to follow quickly. And when they did, the sudden gravity was the least of the surprise. It's just one unexpected thing after another today, isn't it?</p><p>"Rita, darling?" Klaus called out when they all stopped in their tracks. "I think maybe you forgot to mention there'd be a hotel on the moon. Or is that something that just normally exists here in your timeline?"</p><p>"Ah," She looked at the building, then back to them. "Well, no, this isn't public knowledge, if that's what you mean. It's one of the things I was never meant to find out." Rita tilted her head in thought. "And I wouldn't know if there's one in your timeline. I've never been."</p><p>Diego turned to his brother. "Luther?" </p><p>Luther shook his head. "I don't know anything about this. I… I mean, I didn't see anything like this, but this seemed hidden?" He directed that to Rita and Abhijat's direction, recalling how this tall building with a broken neon hotel sign wasn't visible until they had passed the archway.</p><p>"There's a shield of some sort around it." Rita slowly moved to walk towards the building, and the rest of them followed. "Like an invisibility shield around the hotel."</p><p>"So, it is a hotel?" Klaus clarified, looking at the '<strong>HOTEL OBLIVION</strong>' sign that greeted them.</p><p>Rita sent him a look. "Reggie calls it a 'hotel' in public so that when he needs to speak about it, it wouldn't sound suspicious. There's nothing wrong or weird about a billionaire owning a hotel. Before I knew about this, I thought he was just talking to Pogo or Abhijat about some new hotel he owns, but turns out, I was wrong."</p><p>"I think he also calls it a hotel because that's what he's trying to sell it as. At least to himself." She continued as they neared the entrance. "But 'hotel' is too pretty of a word for it."</p><p>"What would you call it?"</p><p>"A prison," she replied simply as she opened the doors and walked inside. "But it's become a home to some of the people here. It's all they know."</p><p>They fall silent again, both at her words and at the way the place looks. The just-right temperature of the air was calming and everything looked clean and grand. Paired with the hotel sign out front, the way the place is built really makes it seem like someone just took a random hotel from Earth and dumped it on the moon with oxygen and gravity supply. (Maybe that really is what happened. Who knows what kind of limits Reginald Hargreeves passed?)</p><p>A head popped up from behind the front desk at the sound of the bell ringing from the door they opened. It was a woman who looked their age, grinning as she saw their group enter.</p><p>"Echo! Hi." Rita greeted her with a hug when the woman walked towards them.</p><p>"Hi," the woman greeted back softly. "Hi!" She greeted in a higher, friendly tone when she looked to Abhijat. "Hi?" She greeted in a questioning tone when she turned to the rest of them.</p><p>"Echo, they're the ones I was telling you about." Rita explained. "The Academy from a different timeline who was trapped back at the house. I was trying to get them home, remember?"</p><p>"Remember." She affirmed with a nod.</p><p>"Everyone," Rita addressed them. "This is Echo."</p><p>The woman waved a hand, a warm smile on her face. "This is Echo."</p><p>"I'm sorry, I have to ask." Klaus stepped forward carefully. "Echo as in… '<em>echo, echo, echo</em>'?" Each word faded, mimicking how it would be if he had shouted it at a wide, empty room.</p><p>"No." Rita answered with a roll of her eyes, but he lips slightly curled up in amusement at his terrible and dramatic attempt at echoing. "Well, kinda. It's more of Echo as in repeating."</p><p>"Echo as in repeating." Echo said with a smile.</p><p>"Not the fading one."</p><p>"Not the fading one."</p><p>"Is she…" Allison hesitated. "Is she <em>echoing</em> what you say?"</p><p>"Hence the name." Rita answered with a tilt of her head. And Echo repeated her words with a wide grin.</p><p>"Who chose the name?" Klaus asked with a hint of a smile, having an idea of what the answer is.</p><p>Echo raised her hand excitedly and pointed at herself proudly.</p><p>"She's claiming it." Rita said and rolled her eyes fondly when Echo repeated the last two words slowly to emphasize it with a smug grin on her face. "Abhijat, the supplies?"</p><p>They turned to see a side of Abhijat open with a claw retracting, holding a huge bag that was obviously full.</p><p>"Presents!" A voice squealed out of nowhere and suddenly there was a little girl running to the bag and opening it up. "What have you brought today, Abby?"</p><p>Abhijat clicked and told the little girl that his name is Abhijat and it should be used properly. But none of that really processed with the Umbrella Academy members as they stared at the little girl animatedly talking while carefully rummaging through the bag.</p><p>"Alex," Rita called out softly with a smile. "You're looking adorable today."</p><p>"Don't tease me, Rita Lewis." The girl stood up with narrowed eyes. "I may look eight, but I can still beat you."</p><p>Rita laughed, and so did Echo and Abhijat in their own way. "I wasn't! You do look adorable. I was also hoping you'd go bring that inside with Abhijat's help and distribute it to those who asked for it?"</p><p>"Sure," the girl responded with a nod. "Did you get what I asked for?"</p><p>"It's all in there. Would you mind telling Albert that I'll be waiting for him at the garden?" And with that, the girl nodded once more and sped off as quick as possible with Abhijat's claw helping carry part of the weight. When they disappeared out of sight, into one of the doors, Rita turned back to the others. "Time to get you all moving then."</p><p>"What <em>is</em> this place?" Vanya asked as they slowly moved. </p><p>"Prison, I told you. Though the files that I've read on it call it 'Hotel Oblivion', as seen from the sign out front. Reggie has such a talent for naming things, don't you agree?" She shook her head. "But it's where he pretty much stuffed all the other special kids he took but couldn't deal with, or those that he felt didn't have any more potential and were basically useless."</p><p>("Useless," Echo echoed blankly. Rita nudged her pointedly for that, and it was obvious that Echo's been told not to say bad things about herself before.)</p><p>"But that was a kid." Allison continued, pointing back to the lobby they came from. "Isn't everyone supposed to be our age? What is she doing here?"</p><p>"They." Rita corrected automatically. "Alex prefers to use 'they', so even if you might not see them again after this, just refer to them as Alex or them/they."</p><p>"Progressive." Klaus commented.</p><p>"I had to keep them updated on things happening outside, back on Earth. Alex felt that the gender-neutral concept and the non-binary identity fit for them, so…" Rita shrugged. "And they're here because Alex isn't really an 8-year old little girl. They're our age, but barely has any control on their physical appearance. So, sometimes there's a blonde little girl running around, other times, there's a graying old man in need of a wheelchair. Usually, it's a face we haven't met yet." She sighed, and Echo followed. "It's really disorienting, apparently. They barely have control over it, and it's only recently that the body lasts at least a few weeks before changing again."</p><p>(Echo tapped Rita lightly and motioned with her hands. Sign language, they recognized. '<em>You helped them. Helped us</em>.' Rita's eyes softened at her words.)</p><p>"So, they're like us?" Vanya asked hesitantly.</p><p>Rita tilted her head in thought. "Technically, yes. Alex is one of the super powered babies born on our birthday. But, also, it's a no, because Alex and everyone else thrown into this place aren't part of the academy."</p><p>They stopped by a door where Echo somehow brought out some shoes for them to use and a jacket to cover up their thin clothes, and entered through it where they came out into a garden. If it wasn't clearly established that they were on the moon, they would have believed that they were in an actual hotel and this was just one of the outdoor spots. There was a realistic image of clear blue skies above them and a gentle breeze through the air that made it feel like any other garden. It was a pretty big space, probably enough for a three or four star hotel, and it was covered with all kinds and colors of flowers that were obviously neatly maintained. Rita and Echo lead them through the stone path and got to a little gazebo from where they could see a little pond.</p><p>"Oh, hey there." Rita greeted, and Echo did the same with a wave of her hand. There were other people in the gazebo who looked up when they stepped in. "Didn't realize you'd all be out right now." </p><p>There's a man wearing a black jacket, looking up at the new arrivals with a hint of fear and hesitancy in his eyes. A woman sat beside him, her yellow dress and small smile making her look so kind. They both appeared to have been meditating on the floor when the group arrived, startling them. Suddenly, the man's hand burst into flames.</p><p>"Woah, woah," Rita said, in a not surprised way. The rest of them watched in silence (because what were they going to say) as the woman patted the man's hair softly, whispering something into his ear until the fire had died down. "You good?" Rita asked a few seconds later. "Need help?"</p><p>"No, thank you." The man answers through gritted teeth. He had a fairly deep voice and stared at the floor as he answered. "I've got it."</p><p>"Yeah, you do." The woman nodded proudly, smiling at him before turning to the others. "Hello, you must be the Umbrella Academy. Rita's told us about you."</p><p>"Has she?" Five asked.</p><p>"Mhmm." The woman grinned. "I'm Mariella. This is Peter." She gestured to the man who refused to meet their eyes. "It's nice to finally meet you."</p><p>"You're the shapeshifter." Diego recalled, but it seemed to be the wrong thing to say because her eyes hardened at the words and the man — Peter — had lost all hesitancy and stood glaring at them, keeping Mariella behind him. Diego and the rest of the team automatically raised their hands in surrender at the fire bursting from his hand which now looked more in control. "Right, sensitive topic, huh?"</p><p>Rita rushed to stand between them. "Sorry, sorry! That's on me. I had to explain the situation and they saw some of the folders. Just the covers!" She added hastily and honestly when Peter didn't back down. "I didn't show them things they didn't need to see. Promise." And it took a few seconds, despite the tension making it feel like an hour, but the fire slowly died out again and he stepped back.</p><p>"Causing troubles?" A new voice joined them. From the other side of the gazebo, behind Mariella and Peter, a figure walked towards them. "Rita, I think your guests are staying here too long."</p><p>The figure stepped into the gazebo with them to reveal a statue. A walking, talking, breathing, living statue. At least, that's what she looked like at first glance. The woman was made out of stone. It was only when she turned her head slightly to look at Mariella calming Peter down again that the bits of tan skin started to become more visible. The most prominent part about her was that her left eye was dark brown while her right eye was like the eyes of most statues — smooth, gray, expressionless stone. </p><p>"When Al gets here, he can do his thing and they're gone." Rita replied.</p><p>The half-woman, half-statue stared at the Umbrella Academy members, assessing. "I'm Roxy."</p><p>A beat of silence.</p><p>Klaus turned to Rita, pursing his lips before leaning down to whisper. "...<em>Rox</em>y?"</p><p>Rita shrugged. "It's short for Roxanne. She's claiming it too." And Echo enthusiastically repeated her words.</p><p>Roxy grinned at their stunned and confused expressions before turning to the other two and somehow, despite her stony appearance, gently guided them out of the gazebo. "We'll go see what's taking Einstein so long. Send you on your way home."</p><p>Luther saw her look at him curiously before sending him a small smile. Was it of pity? Understanding? He's not sure, but he did feel a bit of comfort from it.</p><p>"Take a seat." Rita gestured around the gazebo. "You're as safe here as you can be."</p><p>Diego and Five remained standing, constantly vigilant and looking out to the garden. The rest immediately went to the seats. It has been a while since they've actually sat properly other than on the floor. You tend to miss the little things you never appreciated when you get locked up for weeks, after all.</p><p>"The woman — Mariella? Shapeshifter, right?" Luther broke the silence. Rita and Echo both turned to him at his words, the rest followed. "You said this was a place for the useless and uncontrollable."</p><p>"Reggie's words."</p><p>"Yes, his words." Luther nodded at the same time Echo repeated it. "I don't understand why he wouldn't find shapeshifting to be potentially helpful."</p><p>"Mariella doesn't shapeshift anymore. She's… a bit traumatized." Rita sighed, rubbing her face. And it's another sign that this was another terrible story. "To put it plainly, she was stuck as all sorts of animals when she was still young. The tests, the experiments — you know the drill — made her shift into an animal but it would take weeks or months for her to get back. When it took longer than usual and she was stuck in the body and mind of a wolf that felt trapped, I think Reggie got frustrated with the lack of results. He probably felt like they were raising a pet more than a superpowered child, so she was placed here."</p><p>'After a while, she became human again, but the shifting became uncontrollable until Rita showed up and was able to help.' Echo signed with her hands.</p><p>Rita nodded. "Since I can take the powers on a timeout or control the level it's on, I was pretty popular when I got here." She looked out into the distance as if remembering the day. "It was terrible."</p><p>"Can't you help Echo?"</p><p>Rita sighed again at Vanya's question, but Echo only smiled sadly and placed a comforting hand on her arm. "No. If I put her on timeout, she can't speak at all."</p><p>Echo grinned and signed with her hands again. 'I've gotten better with communicating in other ways though. And I used to be forced to repeat literally every last word I hear, but Rita helped me to at least have the option to choose whether I'd repeat it or not.'</p><p>"That's great!" Klaus exclaimed. "Good for you. What about the others?"</p><p>Rita narrowed her eyes at him.</p><p>"Oh, come on." Klaus whined. "What if we have this in our version?"</p><p>"You shouldn't." Rita replied darkly. "Not if it's been over twenty years since they've had contact with the outside world."</p><p>"And why's that?" Five asked, but he had an idea of the answer.</p><p>Echo answered with quick motions of her hands when Rita remained silent. 'There are dangerous ones here.'</p><p>"Isn't everyone dangerous?" Klaus shrugged, looking around. "In their own little way?"</p><p>"Yes," Rita answered slowly, as if thinking deeply about the answer in her head. "But—"</p><p>"Rita! Echo!" A voice shouted. It seemed to come from nowhere, like the roof itself said it. The tone was panicked and everyone in the gazebo stood up in alarm. "They're headed your way."</p><p>"<em>Who's</em> headed our way?" Diego asked immediately facing to the outside. The others positioned themselves the same way, covering all sides and making sure they can see anyone who could be coming.</p><p>"Rita." A voice came from the middle of the gazebo and they all turned to see a man who had somehow escaped their attention. He wore a smirk as he spoke in a sing-song tone. "I heard you're letting some people out."</p><p>"Don't test me today, Baz." Rita replied through gritted teeth. Echo stood slightly in front of her as a line of defense, looking defiantly up at the man sporting an all black attire. "You know it's hard to just let you all out. You <em>know</em> this."</p><p>"Yeah, Reggie's gonna get us, yadda yadda yadda." He ('Baz'?) rolled his eyes. "And I've repeatedly told you, if we just all work together, he wouldn't be a problem." He shook his head at Rita's lack of response. "You just care more about the grand and beloved Sparrow Academy than us. Apparently, you also care more about their alternate universe counterparts." He said the last part while judging the others with them. </p><p>"You're not an idiot, Baz." Rita said in a frustrated tone. "I genuinely don't give a fuck whether you kill Reggie or not, but that doesn't solve anything! With how much influence and goddamn money he has, people are going to question where he went and they're going to find you. All of you." She shook her head. "They're not even gonna believe you about the experiments no matter how much proof you've got."</p><p>"So what?" All heads turned to see a woman with long brown hair leaning on one of the entrances to the gazebo, picking at her nails painted a deep red. She looked up when the attention was on her. "We can make them believe us." No one missed how her eyes went to Allison for a second.</p><p>"We're not—" Rita huffed, trying to calm down. "We're not doing things like he did, alright? Just give me more time."</p><p>Baz groaned and was lying down on the stone seats of the gazebo within a split second, a fading trail of white lightning connecting him to his previous spot. (<em>Oh, that's how he got past us.</em> Luther thought. <em>Speed.</em>) "You're taking too long."</p><p>"It hasn't even been a year since you got good control over your powers." Rita defended. </p><p>"Right," the woman drawled. "Because we're your experiments instead."</p><p>Rita looked tired, Vanya noted, as if she's been over this a million times but it never stopped hurting. "Hera, I don't <em>experiment</em> on you. I don't experiment on <em>any of you</em>." The sincerity was bleeding through her words, but the two just snorted in disbelief.</p><p>"Don't lie to us, Rita." Hera said as she stood straight and looked her in the eye. Baz went to stand beside her in a second. "And don't lie to yourself."</p><p>"I'm not—"</p><p>"Pain." Her voice echoed with one word, as if digging into everyone's ears. Everyone's hands instinctively went to cover their own ears, but they weren't the target. Echo fell to the floor with her mouth open in a silent scream, tears slowly slipping from her eyes. Before anyone could move, the speedster had already collected her body and brought it to the other entrance of the gazebo with nothing but a wisp of lightning to show the path he took. Another woman joined him and had a hand hovering over Echo's forehead.</p><p>"Let us go first, Rita."</p><p>Rita breathed in, obviously annoyed at the turn of events. Diego had tried stepping forward to be of some help but she only signalled him to stand down. Five also pulled him back subtly, whispering that this isn't the time to be involved. Allison is so very much tempted to just rumor them all to stand down (maybe Rita wouldn't even mind) but she doesn't even understand the entire situation. </p><p>"And where would you go, Madeline?" </p><p>"We'll figure it out." Hera answered from her spot. The two entrances were blocked now. They could escape over the railings of the gazebo, but it's not like they can outrun someone whose power is speed. (<em>Well</em>, Five thought, <em>maybe not</em> outrun. <em>But where exactly would I teleport everyone here on the damn moon?</em>)</p><p>'Madeline', the other girl with dark curly hair and deep brown eyes, tilted her head at Rita's lack of response and, with a raised eyebrow, dropped her hand to make contact with Echo's forehead. With how much she seemed to have been building it up, the Umbrella Academy members were slightly startled into a bit of movement, still on a defensive stance, but nothing even happened. Vanya then noticed the faint violet tint slowly spreading in the air.</p><p>("I don't think I can jump more than a few feet." Five whispered to the group through gritted teeth. "Rita must have shut their powers down, and since we're nearby, we're slightly affected?"</p><p>"I won't exactly disagree." Klaus replied with a shrug. "These people seem dangerous."</p><p>Diego shoved him lightly. "So are we.")</p><p>"Timeout, hmm?" Madeline hummed as her fingers trailed up to comb through Echo's hair instead. Echo breathed roughly and was clearly making attempts to get away, but Baz' grip on her was too tight. "Knew you'd do that."</p><p>Rita's eyes were definitely on Echo, but her tone only addressed the three others. "You know, they were wondering what stupid superhero name I'd use if I ever went with them. Klaus suggested 'The Shield'."</p><p>"Taste." Klaus nodded in approval. "I think I really love my counterpart."</p><p>"That's dumb." Madeline rolled her eyes, ignoring Klaus' dramatic gasp and the other shushing him. "You're not protecting anyone. And besides, every shield has a weak spot."</p><p>Distracted by their conversation, no one had noticed the brown haired woman sneaking up from behind Rita except Echo, who couldn't give a warning and could only watch in horror. Hera had stabbed Rita in the back with a knife that no one had even noticed was on her earlier. If Allison saw things right, she's pretty sure the violet tint that had painted the air in the gazebo flickered and became more faint when Rita screamed in pain.</p><p>"Oh my god!" A group comes rushing into the garden. The woman who spoke had eyes that were clouded with gray and she was being guided by the child they recognized to be Alex. "Was that Rita?"</p><p>"Hera stabbed her." Roxy, also from earlier, observed. Instead of the anger Luther was expecting, there was only annoyance and irritation present from most of the group's expressions. </p><p>"Madeline, Bax." Peter, the man who had fire earlier, called out. "Let Echo go."</p><p>"Stand down." Mariella added.</p><p>Another person in the group gestured to the Umbrella Academy members. "The hell are you all standing around for? Help her!"</p><p>"We're on timeout." Diego explained. "We don't even understand exactly what's happening!"</p><p>Someone else scoffed. "So?"</p><p>"They have a point." Vanya acknowledged quietly.</p><p>"Rita?" Alex tried to get a response but only got a faint whine. "For fuck's sake, Hera, what were you trying to gain out of this?" Their tone was so exasperated as they approached the gazebo, a fierce look on a child's face that doesn't look that wrong. "Why do you do this to her all the time?"</p><p>They entered the gazebo by roughly pushing past Baz and glaring up at him then went to Rita's side. "Complete idiots, honestly. Rita, are you okay?"</p><p>Abhijat flew in out of nowhere and handed what looked like a first aid kit to Alex's outstretched hands. He clicked quickly and shortly in his own language, and everyone was able to automatically understand. It also meant everyone except a select few froze in surprise.</p><p>"Abhijat." Rita struggled to gasp out when Alex only focused on patching up the knife wound, clutching the knife they had pulled out of her, eyebrows furrowed as she stared up at the green box. "What do you mean the plan is in progress?"</p><p>A laugh sounded out through the garden. "He was talking to us, dummy." Hera smirked when she got their attention. "Cody's doing his part."</p><p>"<em>Co</em>—" Rita groaned again and glanced at the rest of the group who seemed to move and brace themselves at Hera's words. She then turned to the Umbrella Academy, who didn't know what it implied, pain from being stabbed was still evident in her eyes. "Take cover," she warned.</p><p>And she warned them with just enough time for them to grab onto some part of the stone gazebo and hold onto each other before the wall on the right side blew up. Despite how tightly they held hands, the force of the explosion was enough to knock everyone off their feet, even those who knew it was coming, apparently.</p><p>"I thought he had it under control." Baz coughed to Hera who was also pushing herself up.</p><p>"I cannot <em>fucking</em> believe this." Rita grumbled as she struggled to stand, her back was still bleeding from the stab wound earlier. "The fucking <em>audacity</em>." She glared at the Baz, Hera, and Madeline, who seemed to all just ignore her. Five followed Rita's gaze as she prioritized checking over the other group of people then turning her eyes to the top to see the faint translucent blue shine of the oxygen and gravity shield was still intact. (And thank whatever gods that it was. That would have been a whole other problem.)</p><p>"Uh, Rita?" Klaus called out tentatively once everyone has stood up. The others turned to see their brother hesitantly approaching her, but she put a hand out to stop him. It became obvious then why Klaus was so cautious — dark violet veins lined up her arm up to her face as much as they could see. Her eyes blinked slowly until her entire eyeballs turned the same violet shade.</p><p>"What the fuck." Diego murmured to his siblings in response to the sudden change. He gripped the letter opener Five had passed him earlier. "What do we do now?"</p><p>"You realize she hasn't even told us how to get out?" Allison whispered back. "What are we supposed to do now, huh? Vanya, can you do something?"</p><p>"I—I can't reach my powers at all." Vanya stuttered out after a second. "Are we on a full timeout?" It was confirmed to be the case when everyone else tried to access theirs to no success.</p><p>"I knew we should have done something." Five hissed.</p><p>"When, exactly?" Klaus raised an eyebrow. "When we arrived at the fucking moon?"</p><p>"No, before we got here." Luther countered. "We should have made sure of things more before we let it get this far." He gestured to the group of people in front of them.</p><p>Rita was now approaching the trio who seemed to be the root problem, Abhijat beside them on the ground, faintly glowing green, seemingly slightly affected by Rita's powers. The knife was still in her hands, and she looked very tempted to use it. "Honestly, what the <em>fuck</em>? What the <em>actual</em> fuck is this?" She waved her arm around to their surroundings. Half of the hotel, as far as they could see, was still standing, but the other half was completely demolished to bits.</p><p>"What is <em>wrong</em> with you?" Alex supported Rita once they've stood up as well and brushed the dirt off their clothes. "Couldn't even bother to make sure it's your side of the hotel that's blown up? What about all my collection, you little shits?" And the whole scene of a little child screaming up at grown adults and a green box, who all seemed to be slightly rethinking their idea, would have been funny if—</p><p>Well, no. It was funny. The other people who lived in the hotel seemed to think so as they helped each other stand up and shook their heads at the rubble and the sound of an 8-year old's voice screaming above everything. But all-in-all, they didn't seem to find this a new thing.</p><p>"Hi, hello." A man walked up to them with the craziest black hair and round glasses. He had Echo leaning on him, who waved once they caught their attention.</p><p>"Hello." Klaus replied unsurely. Luther was quick to help Echo and support her from the other side, seeing as the man was struggling to hold her up.</p><p>The man sighed at the lessened weight. "Sorry, I don't think Rita would've had time to tell you. I'm Al, named after Albert Einstein, because I really just admire his work and he's had so many contributions to, honestly, science in general. I really hope that someday I'd be able to do something like—"</p><p>"What's your point?" Five cut him off, but it didn't seem to offend him.</p><p>"Oh, right." He pointed out the pieces of paper that were sticking out from Five's jacket. "Those are mine. I'm supposed to get you guys out?"</p><p>"Then do it." Diego demanded.</p><p>Vanya looked back to the sight of a half-blown up hotel and the people who'd been trapped here for so long. "We can't just leave them."</p><p>"Yes, we can. This is not our world." Five insisted, attempting to convince his siblings. "Let us get out."</p><p>Al grimaced. "I should, but I can't." He nodded to where Rita was. "She has the entire place in lockdown — a.k.a. the bigger version of a timeout — hence the violet things on her arm. She's gonna be so exhausted after this." The last part was more of a mumble to himself, but Echo repeated it with a shake of her head.</p><p>"So, what can we do?" Allison asked.</p><p>He shrugged. "If you can, help calm her down, maybe? She can do that herself though. Maybe we should just leave her to it." They watched for a second as Rita shouted more at the four people involved, and as Alex took over the screaming when Rita paused to catch her breath. Another figure walked up to them with torn clothes and pursed lips. "Yup, Cody just came now. This is going to take a while."</p><p>"That's not our problem." Five grumbled before setting off to try and talk Rita into letting them go first before continuing this lecture she was giving. But before he could even take two steps, a piercing scream hit the air.</p><p>"Rita!" Alex shouted in alarm when she falls to the ground, screaming and writhing in pain. Echo repeated her name and suddenly rushed from Luther's side to Rita. "Hera, stop!"</p><p>"I'm not doing anything, you idiots!" Hera shouted back in utter confusion. "She has the place on lockdown!"</p><p>"Lockdown!" Echo repeated loudly while shaking her head, showing them Rita's arms which were void of the veins that had shown up earlier. </p><p>"We aren't on lockdown." Alex said the words, and Echo repeated them in affirmation. "We aren't even on timeout."</p><p>Baz took a step forward, a perplexed look on his face. "I'm not running fast, though?"</p><p>Echo struggled to calm Rita down even without the words or the signs, but the effect seems to still be there. Her screams have died off and turned into endless whimpers of pain. Tears built up in her eyes and fell as she struggled to even get words out. </p><p>"What's happening?" Klaus asked as he watched Rita's body still twitched in pain. But no one was able to answer.</p><p>"Ah, children." A voice joined them and a hush fell over everyone. "Well, you're not exactly children anymore, are you? Then why do you still act like it?"</p><p>Everyone's heads turned to see a familiar figure followed by six others. Reginald Hargreeves led the group, bringing his stupid walking stick with him. Pogo walked by his side, aiming a machine that looked like a mix of a megaphone and a satellite at the entire hotel. An all too familiar violet wave was faintly, but surely, coming from it. The six members of the Sparrow Academy were behind them, wearing the masks Umbrella Academy members recognized to be similar to their own.</p><p>His piercing, judging eyes scanned them through his spectacles. "Look at the mess you've made."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>✓ Character explanations* - Keep in mind that Reggie decided to put them there because they were either useless or hard to control. Then they were just kept there since SA met his standards anyway. I thought too long about this so let me explain.<br/>—&gt; Echo: uselessly echoing things, but has particularly good hearing (inspired by Echo in HOO)<br/>—&gt; Alex: uncontrollable human shapeshifting<br/>—&gt; Mariella: originally uncontrollable animal shapeshifting<br/>—&gt; Peter: originally uncontrollable fire<br/>—&gt; Roxy: partially made of rock, useless bc she hits something and the rock parts of her slowly erodes/weathers? I imagine her to have cracks especially on the fists<br/>—&gt; Hera: makes people feel pain using only words;  inspired by Jane from Twilight who I honestly liked watching. uncontrollable bc she has a temper and has probably tried her powers on Reggie a lot<br/>—&gt; Baz: originally uncontrollable speed<br/>—&gt; Madeline: uncontrollable takes energy/life at skin to skin contact; inspired by Rogue in X-Men<br/>✓ I'm thinking of finishing this by the next chapter and then polishing &amp; editing everything in the series then putting it into one multi chaptered work instead. For the sake of people who prefer to download the stories and also me cross-posting this on ff.net in the future.<br/>✓ Next chapter might take a while again, but not before the year ends, I can at least promise that. Huzzah to S3 announcement 💜</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"Just wait." Vanya insisted, somehow being the only optimist in this situation. "Everything's gonna be fine."</p><p>Diego tilted his head, holding tightly onto the stupid letter opener. "Alright. Sure. We're going for denial, huh?"</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I think I've played up a lot in this series and then just decided not to meet the hype HAHAHAHA i kept hinting at a cool team escape plan, and then made Rita do it; then i originally planned a huge team fight against powerful Reggie, but he was too proud when i wrote him; then it sounds like theres a followup to this, but i have none planned (yet) HAHAHA<br/>this was a journey !! took a while but im glad i made it here, and my goal for feb is that i will be rewriting &amp; editing everything into one multichaptered work instead, if thats something youre interested in or easier saving/bookmarking</p><p>thanks for sticking with me as i finish this series &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Look at the mess you've made."</p><p>"Ah, fuck." Diego cursed once they all realize who it was. "<em>Fuck</em>." And another for good measure.</p><p>"He just has an affinity for worst timing ever, huh?" Klaus mused as he glared up at the man. "Maybe he's trying to win that after he just won the title for worst dad ever."</p><p>"Not the time," Five muttered frustatedly. He clenched his fists, almost drawing blood from his nails, but his powers were out of reach. One glance at Rita and the machine in Pogo's hands confirmed that this time, it wasn't her doing.</p><p>Vanya inched towards Rita. "We have to help her." She whispered. </p><p>"How?" Allison replied quickly, scanning her surroundings for an idea. "We need to get that stupid machine out of Pogo's hands. It's obviously the cause. And we also don't have our powers, so Five can't just jump there."</p><p>Luther narrowed his eyes. "They're not affected." He subtly nodded to the Sparrow Academy members who stood behind Reginald Hargreeves, scanning the entire place like it's their first time there. Which, if Rita was to be believed, is actually accurate. </p><p>"Yeah, because why would Reginald bring them here if he can't order them around." Diego responded.</p><p>Klaus tilted his head. "Didn't Rita say something about loyalty to each other over Reggie?" At his words, they all looked to Rita who was obviously most affected by the machine-made lockdown. While everyone else was just blocked from using their powers, Rita was still struggling to even stay still on the ground. But it didn't stop her from trying to glare up at the man who watched her with a disapproving stare.</p><p>"I didn't realize you could be so disappointing, Number Zero." He looked down at her with an expression that Klaus recognized the most. He was, after all, the Umbrella Academy member that failed the most.</p><p>Rita didn't seem entirely affected by his words. She rolled her eyes and slightly moved away from Echo and Alex who were trying to help her stay sitting upright, despite how hard it is. "Knowing what you've done, I'd actually take that as a compliment."</p><p>"Your father would have been disappointed."</p><p>"My father would have been proud, you sick son of a bitch." She snarled in reply. "Locking up kids here for their entire life, how dare you? You didn't even give them a chance!"</p><p>"I gave them the chance to <em>live</em>." He shook his head and seemed to sigh deeply before waving his hand to the Sparrow Academy members behind him. "I've had enough of this nonsense." He said, before Rita could even protest again. "Number One, arrange a clean up. Gather them all."</p><p>At his words, Pogo kept the machine aimed on everyone else with one hand, and took out something from his pockets. "Use these to tie them up. It should keep them down." And he passed that something to other-Ben, Sparrow Academy's Number One. Other-Ben only accepted it without a word and looked to his team before motioning them onwards. </p><p>Luther's shoulders tensed, preparing for a fight. He saw his siblings and the other residents do the same. "So much for loyalty." He muttered, heard only by those close to him.</p><p>"No, wait." Vanya placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. They watched the Sparrow Academy members move in an organized formation at their leader's words. Other-Ben had walked forward and stopped a few steps in front of Reginald and Pogo, looking at everyone else with narrowed eyes. Other-Vanya waited a few steps behind him, as if they were both surveying the situation, while the rest kept walking forward.</p><p>Five tried subtly gathering his siblings together. "Wait for what exactly?" He hissed back at Vanya. "Just get Klaus to move closer and maybe I can bring us to where the stupid elevator thing was."</p><p>"We don't have our powers, remember?" Allison whispered back. "That includes you." That didn't seem to affect Five's plan as he internally kept attempting to reach his powers.</p><p>"Just wait." Vanya insisted, somehow being the only optimist in this situation. "Everything's gonna be fine."</p><p>Diego tilted his head, holding tightly onto the stupid letter opener. "Alright. Sure. We're going for denial, huh?"</p><p>Before Vanya could snap back, other-Ben had suddenly released the monsters within and tentacles were menacingly floating over them. It's a flashback they didn't expect. It's been so long since they've seen Ben's powers and seeing it now that he's an adult looks much more terrifying.</p><p>"Oh god," Klaus took a step back in shock, noting the size of other-Ben's powers. "They grew up with him."</p><p>With everyone's attention on other-Ben and the rest of Sparrow Academy walking forward, no one noticed other-Vanya's eyes glowing until it was too late. Too late even for Reginald Hargreeves to do anything about it.</p><p>The only reason anyone noticed other-Vanya's actions was because there was a loud crash coming from where she was, and the hot waterfall feeling washed over them again so heavily. Familiar with what it means, Five looked to this world's version of Pogo and saw the machine broken to pieces on the ground, thanks to their Number Two, and some pieces of it seemed to have pierced his skin. He watched as other-Pogo automatically tried to attack other-Vanya, only to fail because she was prepared for it. </p><p>The situation switched all too suddenly, and they saw Reginald also attempt to stop other-Vanya, only to be wrapped tightly by dark colored tentacles until he could barely move. The Sparrow Academy members heading towards the hotel residents (see: <em>prisoners</em>) suddenly disappeared from where they were then showed up again behind Reginald to help their siblings, thanks to other-Five's power.</p><p>(Five noted his counterpart didn't need to be in contact with his siblings to bring them with him. Something to be asked in another time, seeing as they really do seem to be on the same side after all.)</p><p>Four Sparrow Academy members handled Pogo together and, with other-Allison's targeted words, were able to successfully knock him out. As soon as Pogo dropped to the ground, it was evident that Reginald realized he wasn't going to get anywhere while still trapped in the tight grip other-Ben had on him while other-Lila stood close by, making sure there aren't any surprises.</p><p>But he still had some cards up his sleeves apparently. </p><p>He had been violently moving around trying to get out of the hold other-Ben had on him, but then he suddenly froze, loosened up, and practically melted. He looked like he was deflating and everyone watching retty much just froze in shock and confusion. Other-Ben shouted in pain and let go of the body as if he was burned, but Reginald had only dropped to his knees, unresponsive. Then, there was a bit of movement, but it still didn't process because the movement looked like his face was just slowly loosening.</p><p>And then it fell off. The face fell off the head like a mask people wear as a costume and everyone stepped back at the unexpected turn of events.</p><p>"Holy shit." Diego stared with wide eyes. "Holy <em>shit</em>, Reginald Hargreeves is an alien."</p><p>It looked horrible, with skin colored a mix of dark pink and green and a head that looked like the bottom half was human but the top half was like a crab. He had completely black, round eyes that were narrowed when he opened them, glaring at the people around him as he revealed his true identity. His lips were thin, and curled into a snarl, revealing sharp teeth and a dark blue tongue.</p><p>"Disappointment." He growled, somehow still sounding the same, which makes it all the more terrifying. "The lot of you. You could have all been something great, and yet—" His voice had only begin to rise as he preached to everyone's frozen state, but failed to finish when an already bloody knife had impaled itself in his forehead, causing him to drop down to the ground, lifeless.</p><p>Because while it was an unexpected event, there was someone who had somehow predicted the way things turned out.</p><p>Klaus breathed out a laugh. "She was right." And they turned to see the source of the knife.</p><p>Rita still struggled to stay upright, but she was kneeling and her hand was covered in her own blood after taking the knife that had been used to stab her earlier and throwing it with all the strength she could muster up. She breathed heavily, the adrenaline of all the events had run out and the overexhaustion from being stabbed and putting the place on 'lockdown' was taking a toll on her, adding to the aftereffects of what the machine had done.</p><p>Luther could see that she was slowly slipping again, and starting to lean more on Echo, who had never once left her side. Before he could step forward to help, Rita weakly turned her head to Abhijat and spoke loudly enough so they could all hear. </p><p>"Can you handle this for me, Abby? I think I'm gonna go take a nap."</p><p>And then Rita's eyes closed as she slumped like dead weight, unresponsive to the sound of voices calling out her name.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>It's been three days and they still haven't left, much to Five's dismay. But he did understand, and it wasn't proving to be a particularly bad decision.</p><p>After the incident, Vanya had vehemently declared that she wouldn't be leaving until Rita has at least woken up. By the way he kept looking over with worried glances, it was clear Klaus was going to argue for the same point as well. Surprisingly, Diego also sided with them to stay first and see exactly how things are going to go for this other alternate universe they've landed in. (Maybe it's because Lila <strike>Pitts</strike> Hargreeves is here, or maybe it's because he couldn't solve the whole JFK assassination back then and this is some closure. Who knows? Certainly not Diego.) Allison was easily convinced to stay when Vanya started making her argument for it. After that, Luther pretty much just agreed and helped out someone who got injured from the explosion.</p><p>Five grumbled against it, but it was him versus everyone else. He isn't leaving without them now. And this is turning out to be quite an educational trip anyway.</p><p>"You're not gonna think that your finger is being sliced." Other-Five clarified with a raised eyebrow. "That's gonna hurt like a bitch. Just picture your fingertip appearing a few inches away. No pain needed."</p><p>Five huffed as his counterpart motioned for him to try it. They were standing out in the garden area with a few other people scattered about, minding their own business. It might have been better to practice new skills alone in a quiet place, but everywhere in the stupid mansion is pretty open for sudden interruptions. </p><p>When they brought everyone down from the moon, the place has been the most crowded Five has ever seen it.</p><p>"No, see, don't picture it attached to you." Other-Five, or Daniel as Five has taken to calling him just to annoy him. "Just the fingertip."</p><p>"So the bone inside… We'll be able to see it?" Luther had been standing by the side, watching over Five learning this new skill. He had a concerned look on his face that looked like he was close to just dragging Five to take a short break for his sake.</p><p>"Yeah, pretty much. That reminds me!" Daniel split his hand from his arm, letting it appear a few inches away from him with the bones and blood showing to his audience (Luther turned away to compose himself for a second). "You also have to make sure you don't bleed out doing it. Imagine putting a stopper to block the blood from coming out."</p><p>"Five! Do you have a first aid kit?" Other-Allison shouted from one of the windows. "If you let Young Little You bleed to death after all the shit she went through making sure they stay alive, Rita's gonna murder you when she wakes up!"</p><p>"We're good, shut up!" He replied. At the same time Five yelled back, "I'm technically older than all of you!"</p><p>Luther stepped forward. "Are you sure this is safe?"</p><p>Other-Five shrugged. "It's how Zero and I did it. We were testing out possible ways to use my powers and she suggested this when she read about splinching in Harry Potter."</p><p>"Why don't I just teach you time travelling?" Five huffed and placed his hands in his pockets, seeming to be done for the day. "I'm not exactly sure if I even what to learn how to do this."</p><p>"I don't believe in nor particularly care for time travelling, and I personally think it's a stupid, high-risk decision to even learn how to do it." Other-Five tilted his head to the academy, motioning for him and Luther to follow. "Partial jumping is a useful skill. Recon is easy and much more subtle when you can separate your eyes from your entire body."</p><p>"Oh no." Luther shook his head with a grimace. "No, don't do that. We'd see your empty eye sockets."</p><p>"Ah." Five grinned in response. "Just for that, I'm more motivated to learn it."</p><p>The sound of knocking on wood brought their attention to the second floor where Alex was. Alex stayed in the form of an 8-year old child with long blonde curls, and wore a bright blue shirt that brought out the color of their eyes.</p><p>"Hey," they smiled when they caught their attention. "She's awake."</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>It's not really surprising that there was a line at the door by the time Vanya heard of the news. It's not surprising, but it was really heartwarming. Still, the line wasn't exactly as long as it should have been. There's a reason that a whole bunch of people couldn't go despite really wanting to. </p><p>It took several trips to bring everyone down from the moon through the Televator, but they did it. Or rather, they were somehow involved in it. Vanya's pretty sure the Umbrella Academy were barely any help, with the Sparrow Academy and Abhijat leading the process, except for aiding those injured from the sudden explosion.</p><p>(She also thought that they were just being a bother and was preparing to tell her siblings she'd changed her mind and that they should just go, but other-Klaus had pulled her aside for a second and told her that it would be better to stay. No further explanation. A trait seemingly existent in all Klauses she'd met so far.</p><p>Maybe she should have told her siblings about that short one minute, one-sided conversation because what if they were planning on locking them up again? (Sure, it hasn't happened… <em>Yet.</em>) But it doesn't seem like there's any bad intentions behind it. So, no. She didn't tell them.)</p><p>Unexpectedly, with the sudden change in atmosphere for the people trapped in the hotel, a lot of them had gotten sick within a few hours.</p><p>There was a bit of a fight at first when people started coughing. Hera, the lovely and terrifying woman who had stabbed Rita, suddenly brought up this theory that they were being poisoned by the Sparrows since they got out. Her crew (Madeline, Baz, and Cody) were quick to support her, and started convincing others to side with them. Luckily, Abhijat was a trusted person on their side and provided them with the analysis he came up with, which Al (also, apparently, a trusted genius in the hotel prison) backed up. Yes, in the moon, they were breathing in oxygen that Reginald (by the way, <em>what the fuck</em>: Reginald Hargreeves is an <em>alien</em> — another thing she hadn't exactly wrapped her head around yet) had supplied for them, but Abhijat clarified that that oxygen was clean and filtered. Almost everyone getting sick from the polluted air that actually exists on Earth was an unfortunate situation that no one had expected due to the blinding excitement of just getting everyone out.</p><p>Some bounced back easily enough after receiving some shots that Lila quickly came up with. They learned that she was their second legit doctor in the family who tends to be the one helping Rita and Pogo patch the Sparrows up post-missions.</p><p>One of the few that got back on their feet easy enough was the man who caused the explosion (Cody) and the woman who tried to harm Echo by draining her life by touching her skin, which she could apparently do (Madeline). The other two in their little clique (as Klaus would call them) were still in one of the many rooms the Academy has, waiting for the vaccine to kick in.</p><p>Cody and Madeline exited out of the room Rita had been in for the past few days. From their spot outside the door, Vanya and her siblings slightly heard their voices apologizing to Rita and Rita's own voice replying in a soft tone a few minutes ago. Cody left the room sniffling and rubbing his eyes while Madeline pulled him close to her side to comfort him as they walked away.</p><p>A knock on the door called their attention, and they saw Echo leaning on the door and inviting them in with a motion of her hand. "Ready to see them." She greeted with a smile, echoing what Rita must have said.</p><p>Echo had fought against anyone who tried convincing her to rest in one of the many bedrooms, and planted herself firmly at Rita's side while she recovered. She had a slight fever on the first day, but after Lila's vaccine had been administered, Echo quickly got better within a few hours. Cured by medicine, sheer will, and stubbornness.</p><p>As soon as they entered, Echo led them to Rita's bedside where she automatically sat herself on the armchair that was evidently dragged closer to the bed. Apart from them, other-Ben and other-Vanya were on the side of the room, resting on the small couch there and very obviously keeping an eye on Rita and all the visitors she might have, including the Umbrella Academy members as they shuffled in.</p><p>"Sorry to say this because I know you want to go home, but I'm glad you all haven't left yet." Rita smiled weakly at them, her voice also betraying how tired she feels. Echo rolled her eyes and shook her head fondly at the exhausted tone, but only brought a glass of water closer for Rita to take a small sip from.</p><p>Allison frowned. "If you're feeling a bit tired, we could talk another time. We saw that a bunch of other people already visited you before us. It could be a bit draining since you're still recovering to talk with that many people."</p><p>"Please," other-Ben muttered from the back of the room, "I beg you to convince her."</p><p>"Oh, shush." Rita waved off their concerns, albeit quite unsuccessfully because she looked like she was struggling to even stay awake. "This is important. I need to talk to you all, especially since it seems like you postponed your return just to wait for me to wake up."</p><p>Klaus shrugged. "The Albert Einstein fanatic said the calculations would just be slightly adjusted anyway, so this seems like the least we can do. You did a lot for us."</p><p>She breathed out a laugh. "I was your prison guard."</p><p>"A prison guard who helped us escape."</p><p>"You're going through a terrible case of Stockholm syndrome, I think."</p><p>"Ehh, maybe I am. You're the psychologist between the two of us." Klaus winked at her and smiled at the smooth-flowing conversation that had become familiar in the past few months.</p><p>"Are you feeling better?" Vanya asked, eyebrows furrowed. "I mean, obviously you're still on bed rest, but you're going to get better, right?"</p><p>Rita smiled at her tone of concern. "Yes. Just the whole machine thing was unexpected. Didn't even know he had that."</p><p>"What was it?" Luther recalled the huge megaphone-like machine that other-Pogo held and other-Vanya destroyed. "It was like your powers."</p><p>"That bastard was keeping record of my powers then duplicating them in a separate lab and I didn't even realize." She groaned, pressing the palm of her hands to her eyes. "I can't believe I didn't even realize."</p><p>"None of us did." Other-Vanya interrupted before shooting a glare to the woman lying on the bed. "Though maybe we could have worked this all out if you'd been more honest with us."</p><p>"Vanya..." Rita whined, dragging out the last syllable. "I told you, he was monitoring you. What if he found out about everything and I lose all my progress? We talked about this already."</p><p>"We talked about this already." Echo repeated in a firm tone, meeting other-Vanya's gaze with no fear, and signaling for them to let Rita continue with the conversation she wants to have. Other-Vanya raised her arms in surrender and Rita sent Echo a grateful look. </p><p>"Anyway, the thing I wanted to ask." Rita met each of their eyes before stopping at Five. "Would you all mind so terribly if you waited until I was better before leaving?"</p><p>"Why?" Five sighed, already knowing what they're decision would be but asking anyway. "Why do we need to stay?"</p><p>Rita shrugged. "Because."</p><p>"I get it." Klaus declared with no hesitation. "Let's stay here longer."</p><p>"I'd like to get back, though." Allison interrupted with a sad smile. "I... I haven't seen Claire in years."</p><p>"Oh shit, forgot about that." Rita winced. "But I promise it's not going to take long. At least two days, at most a week? I honestly feel better already."</p><p>"If you get out of that bed, I'm fucking knocking you out." Other-Ben warned when Rita tried to stand up to prove her point. "Test me, Rita. You haven't made it back into my good books yet, with the whole stunt you pulled."</p><p>She rolled her eyes in response. "Benny, I'm a permanent character in your good books. Can't get rid of me there." She turned back to Allison. "You remember Mariella? And Peter? They might need your help in the parental department."</p><p>"Is she pregnant?"</p><p>"No, she already gave birth. Two years ago, almost three."</p><p>Other-Vanya stood up, looking concerned. "We didn't recover any children from the moon. Alex in their child form doesn't count."</p><p>"Yeah, of course not." Rita shot them all a look. "You think I'd leave an <em>infant</em> there? Where Reggie could have gotten his stupid alien hands on her?"</p><p>"Too soon." Other-Ben shook his head at the mention of 'alien'.</p><p>"No, it's not! I've been telling you all that I thought he's an alien for years." Rita weakly gestured at the Umbrella Academy members. The constant talking was proving to really take a toll on her, but she pointed a finger at Diego surely. "I even told them about it before we used the Televator. Isn't that right, Diego? Tell him."</p><p>"She's right." Diego nodded. "Just to add, I think he might have also killed JFK." He might have said a bit more but Five roughly nudged at him to shut up about the conspiracy theory they have heard for hundreds of times.</p><p>Before Rita could respond to Diego's theory, other-Vanya waved her hand. "Wait, no, stop. Out of topic. Where's the kid?"</p><p>"She's on her way here with the caregiver I hired." Rita closed her eyes and smiled. "Jean's really adorable. Everyone here is going to love her."</p><p>"Have you been raising a child alone?" Other-Vanya's voice raised slightly.</p><p>Rita opened her eyes and looked confused. "I just told you I hired a caregiver. And I try my best to make sure she know her parents. I've taken her to visit Mariella and Peter a bunch of times when you all have international cases to handle with Reggie. They'd really appreciate a bit of Allison's help about parenting and everything since they barely got the chance to." She said as her eyes trailed to Allison, pleading.</p><p>"The secrets you keep." Other-Ben shook his head.</p><p>"The secrets I've kept." Rita emphasized on the last word with a smile. "They're all out in the open now. But, back to the point I was trying to make, cause I feel the energy draining out of me the more I talk. Stay, learn more about your powers from these idiots," Rita nodded her head to the direction of the Sparrows, "get to know people, help out with the others who apparently got sick, explore the city, play spot the difference, take a break. Do whatever honestly, just give me a few days."</p><p>They watched silently as her words trailed off to be barely heard and her eyes slowly shut close before they could even answer. Five sighed and looked away, waiting for one of his siblings to make the final decision that he knew was already made since earlier despite slight hesitation. After all, he's not exactly opposed to learning more about his powers in a different point of view, and he's sure his sibling would benefit from it too.</p><p>Vanya broke the silence. "We're staying, right?"</p><p>"It's just a few more days." Luther shrugged. He's been enjoying walking around the mansion, a mirror of the only place he's ever called home, and seeing it full of  people, albeit some were sick in bed. It just feels weird and sad, but somehow warming that the place looks lively in a way that he's never seen it.</p><p>"And how could you say no to someone who pretty much passed out trying so hard to convince us." Klaus chuckled as he approached Rita's bedside and patted her hand twice before placing his hands back in his pocket. The ghost of some old man that Klaus had been trying to ignore finally disappeared. "Okay, red hair. We'll stay."</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>"Are you kidding me?" Diego deadpanned as they stood at the green grass of the garden. "We stay for three extra days and she isn't even here to say goodbye?"</p><p>"It's not like we're lacking people." Five grumbled, kicking a pebble away as they waited. "If anything, there's too many."</p><p>"This?" Klaus snorted. "This isn't enough." He grinned and waved at the people watching them from the windows, laughing as they excitedly waved back. They probably would have chosen to surround them in the garden, but Al had said that the teleporting they were going to do would need a lot of space and it's better to keep everyone out of the way. They've already said goodbye to the few they've gotten close to in the past days anyway. "Oh, I remember Destiny's Children. The good old days."</p><p>"Terrible name, by the way." Allison shook her head fondly. She waved one last time to Peter and Mariella who held their little girl in her arms. Her short time with them made her look forward to seeing Claire again and maybe getting the chance to be able to be a good mother.</p><p>"Eh," Luther shrugged. "I thought it was funny."</p><p>"She's here." Vanya stopped the conversation and nodded to the direction of the mansion. Walking towards them was the Sparrow Academy members. </p><p>Other Number Six, other-Klaus, trailed at the back of the group with other/older-Five, also known as Daniel. Other-Klaus seemed to be much more at ease this time, maybe with the lack of ghost-seeing and any secret undercover alien in their house. He waved at Klaus coolly, a sign of how close they've become over the past few days. Not that they were really close now, but there was an unplanned open session, alternate universal Hargreeves Children Support Group meeting the other night when everyone went out to gather at the garden and rant about things as drinks and food were passed around, to the delight of other-Mom. Everyone got a bit closer to their dopplegangers that night.</p><p>Daniel (other-Five) rolled his eyes as he watched other-Klaus moved to play some tricks on other-Lila, who was just confidently striding across the garden. When other-Lila turned and tried to hit Klaus as he laughed, Daniel tugged at both of their hairs with his disconnected hands. The entire fiasco turned to them trying to get a hit on each other, all powers allowed, until other-Allison stood back with a disapproving glare and sent some choice words. Allison herself can't hear what it was, but she's sure her counterpart didn't need to rumor them to listen. </p><p>"That's right, Allison." Other-Vanya agreed as she turned and glared at the other three. "You don't behave yourselves, I'll make you."</p><p>"You're not the boss of us!" Other-Klaus shouted and stuck out his tongue. Much like a child.</p><p>"Shut up." Other-Ben drawled from Rita's side, not even bothering to look back at them.</p><p>"<em>Yessir</em>!" Lila exclaimed, saluting with two fingers and laughing when other-Klaus did it with her. </p><p>Rita shook her head when she reached the Umbrella Academy members with Echo holding her hand beside her and shot them a look. "The chaos of these children, honestly. It's like running a daycare or something." She glanced at them behind her and exchanged knowing smiles with other-Vanya. "What would you lot do without me?"</p><p>"We'd survive just fine." Other-Ben replied instead, looking at the others watching through the windows. "I'll look after them."</p><p>Rita smiled softly at his words, her eyes squinted at him but he refused to meet her eye. "You know what? That does make me feel better."</p><p>"Where are you planning to go?" Luther interrupted, hearing the implications of their conversation. "Doesn't everyone here need you now more than ever?"</p><p>She shrugged. "They've had me since I was ten," she gestured to the Sparrows, "I've been with the rest a year after that." Her eyes scanned the windows. "I guess it's time to see if they could all learn to live without me for a while. Or, a much more interesting take, if I could live without them for a while."</p><p>"Why don't you go with us?" Klaus gasped at his thought. "Ooh, that would be so much <em>fun</em>!"</p><p>"That's incredible." Rita laughed in surprise. "What a great idea! Let's do it."</p><p>Klaus paused and blinked. "Wait, seriously?" And he grinned again when Rita just nodded enthusiastically. "Fuck yeah!"</p><p>"You're really going with us?" Vanya asked incredulously. "Just because Klaus asked?"</p><p>"Oh, no. It was my original plan after we all survived from the moon prison situation." Rita looped her arm around Echo's. "I decided to go with you to your world, Echo said I can't leave without her, and Albert's going with us as our ride!" She grinned once more. "Al said he's good to plan some trips back here we can spend every other month or something at each universe for fun."</p><p>"But why?" Five asked, unable to accept that there's not agenda behind it.</p><p>"For starters, to prevent the apocalypse." Rita caught Vanya's eye. "There's probably no one better than me to help you train."</p><p>"Yes." Vanya nodded immediately, not even realizing she had already agreed. "Absolutely. We need to stop this thing from happening again. Forever."</p><p>"Training's open to the rest of you." She narrowed her eyes at each of them. "You can't afford me, honestly, but I'll do it for free if you let us live in the academy." Her voice took on a teasing tone.</p><p>"Done deal." Klaus replied.</p><p>Luther furrowed his eyebrows at the quick response. "You don't even live there anymore, why do you get a say?"</p><p>"What makes you think I don't live there?" Klaus shook his head. "Where are you gonna make me sleep, Luther?"</p><p>"I'm also planning to go check on your side of the moon. Help you figure out the spot the difference answers." Rita breathed in deeply. "It's best to check it out instead of having everything blow up in your faces at another day, apocalypse-style, then where would you be?"</p><p>"Are we leaving or what?" Five asked the group, not really bothering to argue anymore. "We've been here too long already."</p><p>"Ah, hello, yes." Al interrupted, practically buzzing with excitement. "We can leave as soon as you are all ready. Imagine a whole new world of science right at my fingertips. Of course, some would probably remain the same, but what if there's advancements in yours that hasn't been explored here?"</p><p>"Don't get your hopes up." Diego shrugged as he moved to follow the circle they were forming upon Al's instructions.</p><p>Five and Luther both tuned out Al's rants about the endless possibilities when other-Ben had sneaked up behind them. Rita was busy saying her final goodbyes to the rest of the Sparrows. Everything was honestly moving so quickly after the announcement that she was going with them, but the lack of surprise from the others showed that this was a discussion they've had at their own time.</p><p>"She's gonna take care of you." He muttered to them as they watched Rita moving to hug each one of the Sparrow Academy members. "It's probably going to feel weird but she just has that instinct to take care of people. Don't worry, she knows not to overstep any boundaries. I just need you to make sure she's fine as well."</p><p>Five's gaze moved to someone else. "I think Echo's got that covered."</p><p>Other-Ben tilted his head in acknowledgment. "Yes, but Echo relies on her a lot too. Plus it's your world she's entering."</p><p>"We'll keep her safe." Luther nodded.</p><p>Other-Number One paused at his counterpart's words. "Thanks. But also, don't block her from doing things. She knows how to handle herself. If she finds out you're overprotecting her on my word, she's going to murder all of us."</p><p>Luther snorted at the slight panic in his voice. "Right. Got it."</p><p>"Ready?" Rita's voice asked when she and Echo took their place between Klaus and Allison. "Bye, everyone! Don't get into any trouble and listen to Alex!" She waved to the others in the windows. The rest of the Sparrows had moved back to the building and watched them from the door.</p><p>"That's fucking right! Tell them, Rita!" Alex, who now took on the form of a tall, lanky teenager, had half of their body out the window as they shook their hands to emphasize their point. "You all better listen to me!"</p><p>"Hold hands please." Al nearly squealed as he got everyone in a circle. On Al's right side was Diego, then Five, then Luther, then Allison, then Echo and Rita, followed by Klaus and Vanya who stood on Al's left. Nine of them were ready to leave. "Upon calculations, which has been quadruple checked, we should find ourselves at the point you've all agreed to be the best to return to. Do not let go - I don't know what terrible thing would happen if you did, just <em>don't</em>." He breathed out deeply to calm himself down.</p><p>"Three."</p><p>This is it. They're going back.</p><p>"Two."</p><p>No matter how terrible it's been locked up for a while, they've had conversations and revelations, apologies and explanations. The Hargreeves Children Support Group was really effective. They felt more like a family than they've ever felt throughout their entire life.</p><p>"One."</p><p>They're all still together and everything was going to be fine now. It's been quadruple checked.</p><p>"Zero."</p><p>And that's really all they wanted, isn't it?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>some things i wanted to write in (for rewrite reference and for your viewing pleasure so you can imagine it)<br/>- originally, lila was supposed to have a bigger part in all this. huh.<br/>- idk if its obvious but yes echo and rita are together ok; and this and mariella and peter's case are not incest or st because they weren't raised as siblings so pls support my kiddos :(<br/>- theres some deleted scene in my head where rita also apologizes for taking this long to get them out and how she didnt even plan for this whole thing to happen<br/>- they use the remains of reggie's human suit to make a controllable one that they can use to lessen public's questions if he disappeared or st<br/>- the sparrows learning about the books in the room<br/>- its cool for the sparrow academy members to be called sparrows but the umbrella academy members cant be called umbrellas😕 lets go rihanna<br/>- if you have any questions, i have so much headcanons about this story it would be too long of a note then,, maybe ill write it up someday ahaha</p><p>thanks so much for reading this !! i appreciate all the support 💙</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Will update (if possible) every Sunday !</p></blockquote></div></div>
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